I recently finished reading Silent in the Grave, the first novel by Deanna Raybourn featuring Lady Julia Grey and Nicholas Brisbane. How could I pass up a book that begins with these words:

Still Life, by Louise Penny, is an award-winning first novel featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. There are currently 5 books in the series.

I've been reading "Summerland" by Michael Chabon. It's a good book, in one of my favorite genres, "juvenile fantasy".

We recently discovered the MAGYKAL world of Septimus Heap.

Fatal Fixer-upper is the first in a new "cozy" mystery series by Jennie Bentley. Well-plotted. Good characterization. I'm looking forward to the next installment (due Aug 2009).

Tate Hallaway has written three fun fantasy novels starring Garnet Lacey, witch, and Sebastian Von Traum, vampire. First book is Tall, Dark, and Dead.

The only real difference between excellent "children's" fiction and excellent "adult" fiction is the age of the protagonist.

Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind, by Gary Marcus. Houghton Mifflin Co; April 2008. ISBN-10: 0618879641

Offered a choice between a Lindt chocolate truffle for 15 cents and a Hershey's Kiss for 1 cent, most people choose the truffle.

Go behind the scenes with Alex Frankel as he learns what it's like to work at UPS, Gap, Starbucks, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and the Apple Store. Interesting reading. Watch the Video (overview). Read the Book.

Edited by Denise Little, this is a "shared World" collection.

Recommended: Midnighters fantasy trilogy by Scott Westerfeld.